Tan Yan landed on the ground with the first wisp of sunlight, the ray of light shrouded him from behind, as handsome as if a god descended from the sky, the three of them were stunned for a while.
The three of them are either experienced soldier, or excellent students who have received first-class training. Even though Tan Yan’s strength is comparable to that of cruise missiles, they are only stunned for a few seconds before returning to their senses.
It’s just that the three people behave differently.
Liang Xian subconsciously covered his heart, and turned his head away from Tan Yan.
Qin Li’s eyes glowed with desire, and he stared at Tan Yan firmly.
Ah San looked at his watch: “We have persevered for more than 10 minutes in the extremely harsh environment, which is a great breakthrough, although we haven’t felt the special energy yet, the body’s adaptability has increased. Moreover, the time of entering the ‘void’ is 22:15, and the watch shows that it’s only an hour or so before dawn, the two worlds’ time is different.”
“As expected of a ‘Jackal’, even in this situation you can still pay attention to these details.” Tan Yan praised, this is a good student.
Ah San: “…”
It’s not wrong to praise him, but what does ‘This situation’ mean? Is it possible that Tan Yan’s words are saying ‘Seeing me punching meteors and kicking meteorites you can still remain calm, really excellent’? Then who is he praising?
Ah San was very confused.
Hearing Ah San say the time, Liang Xian immediately suppressed his uncontrollable heartbeat and talked about business: “It’s not that we last longer, it’s that the temperature is rising.”
Regarding the lack of oxygen, they have all received some breath-holding training. As long as the activity is not heavy, it’s acceptable to persist for a few minutes. But in an environment of minus 100 ℃, frostbite will occur within a few minutes.
Qin Li looked disappointed, so it wasn’t because he had become stronger.
“Not good!” Liang Xian said immediately, “If the planet really doesn’t have an atmosphere to protect it, as soon as the sun comes out, the temperature will rise very quickly, and if the ground temperature is above 100 ℃, we will be roasted in no time.”
“Got to find a place to hide from the sun.” Ah San said immediately.
The two of them never thought about letting Tan Yan protect them, but wanted to solve it by themselves.
Tan Yan is very pleased that the students are so motivated.
“Can you make an oxygen bottle or something like that?” Liang Xian said to Tan Yan with some embarrassment, “The current temperature can still be adapted. We can move around as long as we carry oxygen. I have a hypothesis to verify. It is not possible to stick to this place. We must move forward.”
“Yes.”
As soon as Tan Yan finished speaking, the three of them felt something covering their head. It was breathable and weightless, but it was easier to breathe.
The three of them counted their supplies. Since they were just exploring the forest, Liang Xian’s team only had weapons on them, and Ah San only had a gun and a military spike on his body.
“Lack of food and transportation.” Liang Xian sighed.
Qin Li and Ah San can’t help but look at Tan Yan.
Tan Yan: “…Already said I don’t have superpowers, I can’t change them.”
Hearing that he couldn’t take out supplies, Ah San and Qin Li were not only not depressed, but feel relieved instead.
After all, Tan Yan is not omnipotent, otherwise, they will doubt the meaning of life.
“Quickly advance in this direction before the sun rises completely,” Liang Xian pointed to a distant location, “We don’t know where your limits are yet and must preserve our strength.”
They all trusted Liang Xian, picked up their backpacks, and headed in the direction he pointed.
Only Ah San hesitated for a moment, his space structure still remained in the original world, if they are now in the ‘Poppy field’, then the direction Liang Xian is pointing is…
“It is the direction of your underground base.” Liang Xian saw Ah San’s momentary stiffness and opened his mouth to confirm his suspicions.
“How do you know where the underground base is?” Ah San asked.
“Guess based on the surrounding terrain.” Liang Xian said lightly.
“Then why did you decide to go this way? Do you think…”
Ah San felt that this speculation is too terrible, and didn’t dare to think about it further.
“I’m just guessing, I hope I’m wrong.” Liang Xian sighed.
Tan Yan and Qin Li didn’t understand what they were talking about. Liang Xian looked into Tan Yan’s innocent eyes and couldn’t help asking: “When did you enter the ‘void’? How many times have you entered?”
“I can’t say.” Tan Yan shook his head.
“Afraid of causing panic? Thought you would know more information.” Liang Xian was slightly disappointed, “I just hope I guessed wrong.”
“What did you guess?” Tan Yan asked.
With Tan Yan by his side, Liang Xian felt much safer. He didn’t say anything before for fear of causing panic, but Tan Yan always gave people a calming power. Liang Xian suddenly felt that it would be okay to say it.
“I suspect this is the earth,” Liang Xian said, “Without the protection of the atmosphere, the earth is in the last days.”
Ah San had vaguely guessed it a long time ago but still showed a look of helplessness, Qin Li was shocked, only Tan Yan remained calm as always: “Go on.”
“As early as 1997, 1999, and 2012, there were rumors that that year would be the end of the world, and a new generation of floods would cleanse mankind and restore the ecological balance of the earth, but nothing happened in these years.” Liang Xian solemnly said, “But what if it really happens?”
“If it happened, we would be finished long ago.” Ah San disagrees with this statement.
“It didn’t happen in our world, but in another parallel world, or in other words, after these worlds enter the end of the world, they are no longer our world.” Liang Xian explained.
Qin Li and Ah San, who are fond of novels, looked deep in thought, but for Tan Yan, lost his composure and remains dazed, looking extremely helpless.
Liang Xian was taken aback by the contrast between the front and the back. He forced himself to control his arm that wanted to hug Tan Yan, and continued: “While this is just speculation, it’s not without scientific basis. I’m assuming that the apocalypse happened between 97-12, Ah San sir, do you think your base can still exist?”
“If only the atmosphere disappears and the Earth loses a layer of protection, the base should still be there.” Ah San said thoughtfully, “The base was built in 1990. When it was established, it was strong enough to resist nuclear bombs. It has been repaired many times over the years, and the internal facilities are very complete. There are air purification, replacement devices, and temperature measures to resist deadly gas attacks, as well as a considerable amount of food storage.”
No matter which item, it is a facility that can save countless lives in a post-apocalyptic world, they need to go to the base now to confirm.
Although Tan Yan said before that there is a way to return to the real world, Liang Xian believes that since the phenomenon of ‘void’ has been given attention by the country, then since they have come, they should get more intelligence back.
Only by facing up to the crisis and challenging it can we overcome the crisis.
“Each time I entered the ‘void’, I’ve never dared to go deep into the world beyond the ‘void’.” Tan Yan suddenly said, “Since there is a faster way to get back, there is no need to take the risk, I always thought so.”
He felt that he was doing his best to protect the people of Ping County, but when the research team questioned him, Tan Yan realized how little he had done.
For forty years, he has never tried to go deep into the unknown world to explore. In the end, he could not provide any information to the country, and could only sit back and watch the ‘void’ phenomenon become increasingly serious.
Tan Yan didn’t understand the correct way until today when he saw Liang Xian’s actions.
“Am I wrong?” Tan Yan asked himself.
“Were you the only one who entered before?” Liang Xian asked.
“En.” Tan Yan nodded.
“If it was just me alone, I’d freeze to death or die of oxygen deprivation on the spot,” Liang Xian said quietly, “The reason why I dare to lead everyone into this unknown world is because of you.”
“Because you said you wouldn’t let anything get in our way, we have the courage to explore.” Liang Xian finally stretched out his hand, following his heart, and put his arms around Tan Yan’s frustrated shoulders, “If someone said that you can’t get any information, and you went into the ‘void’ in vain, it’s because it’s easy for them to criticize from the sidelines1站著說話不腰疼 zhàn zhe shuō huà bù yāo téng: it’s all very well to talk, but getting things done is another matter (idiom); to be an armchair expert; to blabber on.. You helped us to cross the threshold of ‘life and death’, you paved the way in front of us so that we can move forward.”
For a moment, there were only the sound of running footsteps and heavy breathing, and Tan Yan’s ‘Thank you’ which was almost inaudible.
The base is not far from the ‘Poppy Field’, only ten kilometers. This distance will be reached after a short period of running. Under the protection of Tan Yan, they escaped the meteorite rain twice and arrived at the base half an hour later.
“There used to be a small sentry post here, the sentry post was the entrance. In times of crisis, the small watchtower can be lowered back to the base. The original position of the watchtower would be a deep steel plate.” Ah San pointed to an open space and said, “There is no such thing now, and there are no footprints around, it doesn’t look like there’s an entrance.”
The surrounding area is desolate, full of smashed potholes, and a few remaining roots, but the tree was already dead.
At this time, the sun has risen completely, without the refraction of the atmosphere, the sky is pitch black, only a round of light emitting terrifying heat, like a searchlight in the dark night is enough to illuminate the surroundings, but there is no feeling of daytime.
This is an extremely depressing and suffocating environment. To survive in such a world, you will only feel despair.
Are there really people surviving? Or, is this really the Earth?
No one, including Liang Xian, wants to believe it.
“Probably not, the landscape here is not even remotely similar to the base.” Ah San said, “It also doesn’t look like there are people.”
“No, there are people.” Tan Yan said.
He knelt on the ground, put his ears on the ground, and listened carefully: “In the deep, deep underground, I heard the sound of creatures moving, but couldn’t hear the voice of speech clearly, I do not know if it is Chinese… or, I do not know if it is human.”
Ah San: “…Is the hearing of your team members so terrifying?”
Liang Xian looked at him with sympathy: “That’s right, he heard all the bad things you said before.”
Ah San: “I’m not saying bad things, but a reasonable doubt!”
“Shh…” Tan Yan raised his index finger, “Someone is coming.”
Ah San immediately rolled on the ground, found a rock as a cover, and lay down on the ground waiting for the person to come.
Qin Li and Liang Xian walked over slowly and took off their jackets to cover their heads from the sunlight before lying down next to Ah San.
Ah San: “…”
It seems that after lying down for a long, long time, a fully armed ‘humanoid creature’ in a white reflective suit slowly walked over.
Ah San: “…”
Liang Xian looked at him: I told you that Tan Yan’s hearing is good, why are you so anxious?
The author has something to say:
Ah San: No name, eating dog food every day, and losing face all the time, is there anyone worse than me? What about the strong special forces persona?
Another short chapter, expect another chapter later.
If you like my translations, a cup of coffee would be much appreciated. Thank you!
